Looking for events in London sounds easy until you actually try doing it. Open any event app and suddenly there are hundreds of options. Food events. Music events. There’s way too much sh… stuff going on these days. Instant choice paralysis. Thing is, I don’t even know if “where are the best events in London” is the right question. The best event for a twenty-two year old tourist probably isn’t the best event for somebody who’s lived in London for ten years, right? Still, there are a few places I’d probably start.
Follow Venues More Than Event Websites
This might just be personal preference, but I tend to pay more attention to venues than event listing platforms.
Large event websites are useful, don’t get me wrong. The problem is that by the time something reaches the front page, everybody has already seen it.
Venues usually give you a better sense of what’s coming up. If a venue has a reputation for putting on good events consistently, chances are you’ll find something interesting there sooner or later.
Tape London is one example. The spot tends to have things happening throughout the year. Sometimes it’s a performance, sometimes a private event, sometimes something else entirely.
You don’t have to attend every event a venue puts on. Nobody does that. But after a while you start noticing certain venues appear again and again whenever people talk about interesting things they’ve attended.
Certain Areas Naturally Have More Going On
Inside London are two different Londons. Well, way more than that actually. “Your” London technically depends on what you experience. So, people can visit the same city and come away with very different ideas of what the city is like.
If you go Shoreditch or Camden, you’ll have a certain idea. If you spend your time in Mayfair, you’ll end up with a completely different impression.
Mayfair, Soho and Covent Garden seem to have events happening constantly though. Whether they’re the events you’d personally enjoy is another question. Some are heavily promoted. Others you only hear about through word of mouth.
I’ve occasionally gone into Central London with no particular plan and ended up finding something interesting almost by accident. An exhibition, a launch event, a live performance. Nothing I’d specifically set out to attend.
I wouldn’t necessarily recommend relying on luck, but London does reward curiosity more than people think.
Don’t Overlook Smaller Events
There’s a tendency to assume the biggest event is automatically the best one.
Sometimes it is.
Other times the event everyone is talking about ends up being fairly forgettable, while the smaller gathering with thirty people turns out to be the thing you remember six months later.
That’s especially true with creative events. Smaller exhibitions, talks, screenings and cultural programmes often feel a bit more personal. Less polished perhaps, but sometimes that’s the appeal.
Your mileage may vary of course.
Ask People What They’re Actually Attending
This feels almost old-fashioned now but it still works. Ask people.
Not influencers. Not event roundups. Actual people you know.
Not what was popular. Not what had the biggest advertising budget.
What they actually enjoyed.
I’ve discovered some genuinely interesting events this way. Events I probably never would have found through social media or search engines.
The interesting thing about good events is that they look like a hay in a haystack.
If they stood out, everybody would be there, then you’d probably say, “Ugh, why is it so crowded?”
A lot of the time you hear about them randomly. Somebody mentions a venue. Somebody sends you a link. You buy a ticket without thinking too much about it and a week later you’re wondering why you almost skipped it. Or not. Who knows. That’s also part of the fun.
The city moves quickly, and what’s worth attending this month might be completely different next month. The only real way to figure out what you enjoy is to explore a little and make your own mind up.
